Dear Chin2333 attenders, While working at your term paper, you are all the more encouraged to make use of the 回應/Feedback area here, to communicate among you or with the lecturer. | |
Thursday, April 02, 2009
To Chin2333 participants in 2009 (09)
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27 回應/Feedback:
Dear Allen,
I want to write about the diffrence of appellations in China and Western countries. As we know that we Chinese people always call each other with titles while western people address each other by name. Besides, Chinese people like to address each other as if they were relatives, especially when younger generations address seniorones, "uncle", "auntie" "granny" and "grandpa" are frequently used. But if we translate these directly, misunderstanding may be caused. So I want to do some reserach about the translation of appellations. Would you please give me some advice about that? Thank you very much!
Best,
Camb
Hi Camb,
Just wanna express my thoughts after reading your post. It seems that only westerners in the modern time address others by name, and such convention appears to be a product from the U.S. corporation culture. In novels like Charles Dicken's and Jane Austen's, are people not usually call others "Sir" and "Madam"? And there are expressions such as "Uncle Tom" by which Tom is not the character's relative. I'm not sure if my idea is correct, but I'm afraid you will find an abundance of counter-examples when you actually work on the research.
Cheers,
Fion
Dear Camb and Fion,
Thank you both for posting your queries and thoughts here.
First, I would call your attention to these terms: appellation (稱謂), form of address (稱呼), kinship terms (親屬稱謂) -- these terms are related, but not identical.
Camb can find help from 《文化語境與語言翻譯》(包惠南著；北京：中國對外翻譯出版公司，2001), which discusses this topic among others. Also, some help can be found in 《文化與翻譯》（白靖宇著；北京：中國社會科學出版社，2000）.
Another way is to use the search tool "CNKI 翻譯助手" (http://dict.cnki.net/), as we've shown in class. Use its "全文文獻" function, and input keywords "appellation", "kinship", etc plus "translation", and start "搜索". You will get some help then.
Whichever way you try, please remember to clarify your theme and narrow down your topic.
Also, the Ch-Eng file "Chinese kinship terms" (hand-out for week 4) can be useful. Let me know if you need its full text. Good luck!
Dear Fion, you do have a good point here; thank you for reminding Camb of a possible problem in her topic.
I agree that addressing people by their first name (直呼其名) is a recent development among English-speakers, and I would like to add that Americans seem to be more likely to do so than Britons are.
Dear Allen and Fion,
Thank you so much for your suggestions! I'll take them into account when I write my term paper~
Best,
Camb
Dear Allen,
This is Iris Lai and I am just wondering if you could send this week's lecture notes to the tutor, so that he can forward it to us? It's because we would like to study this week's topic earlier, and gathter more information about the term paper.
Thanks for your time.
Best,
Iris
Dear Iris,
Thank you for your suggestion.
I'll soon be sending out the lecture note (topic 10) after updating it.
Wish you success in your term paper.
Dear Allen,
Thank you very much and see you next week.
Best,
Iris
Dear May, and other Chin2333 attenders,
The "term paper deadline" question has been asked several times by some among you, and has been answered here at this website, ever since Chin2333 began in January.
For your convenience, now I'm re-posting the Q & A here below (with the original dates):
Vicky said...
May I ask when should we hand in the CHIN2333 term paper?
Thank you!!
Tue Jan 20, 01:18:00 AM
Allen said...
Dear Vicky,
In principle, the due date is the last day of the course, namely Saturday, April 25. In practice, if the School Office allows it, you may hand in the work not later than the following Sat (as was the case last year, 2008).
Tue Jan 20, 07:39:00 AM
And, now I would like to add that
on the afternoon of Sat, May 2nd, I shall come and collect all your papers that are deposited in my pigeon-hole outside the School of Chinese office, Main Building.
Dear Allen,
Thanks for sending us the lecture notes to us earlier but I am wondering if the topic of 'Humour & Irony' will be taught this week? It's because I find that 'Humour & Irony' are not covered in this week's note but according to the teaching schedule, they will be taught this week.
Best,
Iris
Dear Iris,
Yes, "humour and irony" will be covered, but it is a lesser topic compared with the translator's roles, and so is omitted in the "main points" that you've received. A full version will be handed out to the class.
Essentially, about this point, the main issue will be culture-related untranslatability or, you might say, various degrees thereof. It will be discussed, along with examples.
(Are you thinking of writing about that?)
Dear Allen,
Thanks for your answer, and yes, I am interested in writing about this topic. I am really looking forward to the coming lecture.
Best,
Iris
Dear Allen,
According to the guideline on the term paper, we have to focus on one topic and combine our discussion with readings.
Can I just use the readings that I find myself (i.e. without using the assigned ones)? Besides, I just noticed that in some of the lecture notes I couldn't find the assigned or suggested reading, can I find them from this site?
Thanks!
Dear Allen,
According to the instruction on the term paper, we have to discuss a topic covered in the course combined with readings. Can I just use the reading that I find myself (i.e. without using the assigned ones distributed during the lectures)? Besides, I just found that I couldn't find some of the readings in the notes, can I find them in this site?
Thanks!
Dear Allen,
My term paper mainly focus on the cultural meaning of "animal" in translation. Sometimes different cultures have diversed concepts of the same animal, such as "dragon" and "dog". So I'd like to discuss the differnces and the strategies we use in translation, and concentrate on the topic of "untranslatability" that we have learnt. However, during my writing process I find it hard to analyse further since I mainly talk about how it is different and how the translators have done. I feel like that I am just repeating but not drawing my own conclusion. Can you give me some suggestions?
Thank you very much.
Dear Anonymous,
It seems you're on the right track. Yes, "untranslatability" (to various degrees) always exists, but you still have "untranslatable" things that must be translated for some purposes. Here you may go further to deal with such situations (in HK, perhaps) and discuss how a trained translator should tackle his task. Or, in connection with the culturally different concepts of "dragon", you may go further to give your view on the argument (in mainland China) that 龍 as the totem of the Chinese nation should be translated not into "dragon" but into "loong" or other newly-made words. Whatever way you move further, you can have topics about which you can express your own views, based on what you've learnt and observed, and supported by good reasons and sound reasoning.
Hope this will help you, and help other Chin2333 participants.
Dear Allen,
I saw a student asking whether it is possible for not using the assigned readings. I am also concerned about this because the assigned readings may not fit exactly what I want to discuss in the essay. Or should we actually discuss the arguments pointed out in those assigned readings?
On the other hand, I would like to ask if the length of essay is limited to 6 pages for both Chinese and English ones. It is because the amount of words for writing in Chinese is very different from that in English. I guess it is about 2000 words for English but 3000 words for Chinese. So are we going to write within 6 pages for either language?
Thank you very much for your help.
Dear Anonymous,
Yes, you may use readings beyond those assigned earlier or those recommended later for Chin2333. Yet please remember to cite your other readings in the same way as you would cite those assigned. The theme of your paper may go beyond the readings, but please keep it within the scope of our weekly topics for Chin2333.
As to the "six pages", it is required for the paper, either in English or Chinese. I take your point that one would need more Chinese characters than English words to fill those pages, but the page requirement remains the same for writing in either language, according to the practice at the School of Chinese.
Dear Allen,
I have selcted "Political Act" as the topic of my term paper. I wonder if this thesis " 翻譯政治敏感的題材時,譯者會因讀者身分背景有異, 採取不同的翻譯手法 (扭曲, 刪除, 隱蔽等)" makes sense?
thank you very much!
Mandy
Dear Mandy,
Yes, it makes sense, and this can lead to interesting discussions. Be careful, however, that you won't assume a translator is automatically entitled to do so in his work.
Dear Allen,
Concerning the term paper, I would like to discuss the approaches of foreignization and domestication on cultural symbols (colours, animals) in translation of novels. Do I need to draw a conclusion of which approach is preferred and should be adopted? Or, instead of sticking to either one, can I say that it depends on the situation (like how important that symbolic value is to the story)? Would you mind giving some comments on this?
Also, I am not very sure about how to do the citation if I want to write the paper in Chinese. Is there a certain style we should follow, like MLA or APA style?
Thanks a lot for your help!
Best,
Amy
Dear Allen,
I would like to ask if I can use sub-headings in the essays. As we are allowed to use sub-headings in the essays which are written in English. I wonder if I can do so when my essay is written in Chinese.
Thank you very much!
Best,
Lily
Dear Amy,
Please follow the APA style in giving citations, just as you do when writing in English.
Your chosen topic, I fear, may be too generic a theme for a short paper. You could do a better job by narrowing it down to a smaller and specific point, in a Hong Kong context or in relation to HK situations if you can, to add some specificness to your discussion.
Then, "it depends on the situation" would sound too plain for a conclusion. Try to propose an idea of your own about the two approaches in treating cultural symbols, basing your point on the materials and/or moving on from your discussion on the materials. That would help to improve your paper.
Dear Lily,
Yes, sub-headings are okay. There is no objection against use of sub-headings in an essay written in Chinese.
Dear Allen,
Some of the examples I use in my term paper are found through internet or online tool, such as 林語堂當代漢英詞典 or one-look dictionary. How can I specifically point out the citation?
Dear Anonymous,
In such cases, you may cite "《林語堂當代漢英詞典(電子版）》" and/or the particular English dictionary respectively.
Please note that you should not just say "One-Look dictionary", because it is not "one" dictionary but a guide to various dictionaries (in their online versions). Please cite specifically, for example, "Compact Oxford English Dictionary (online version)", if you take an instance from that dictionary.
Please also state clearly that it is an "online version", because a dictionary's online version may not be identical with its printed version.
Dear Allen,
I would like to confirm whether my essay had been deposited in the right pigeon-hole. Did you get my essay? Thanks.
Best,
Lily
Dear Lily,
Among the term papers I collected from my pigeonhole, there is one done by Lily, Lai Man Fong. If that is your work, then you have deposited your paper in the right place.
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